Page 171 of Dark Romeo

I nodded into his neck, letting his soft sweater soak up my tears. “I don’t know what to do, Dad,” I whispered.

“His mother’s been notified,” my father said, his thumb rubbing against my back. That was my father. Strong and calm even when things were falling apart around him. “She’s coming in with her brother.”

I nodded. I didn’t even think about who might need to be notified. I was so lost right now.

“Don’t worry,” my father said, his voice vibrating with its first timbre of anger. “We’ll get the bastard who did this.”

I froze.

“There are no usable fingerprints on the gun,” my father continued. “But you saw who did it, didn’t you?”

Roman. Roman did this. But it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his fault.

I tugged away from my father, my thoughts jumbling around in my brain. I was a witness. I could not keep this quiet. I had to tell the truth. Right? It was my duty to say what I saw.

Could I turn on Roman? Could I speak up against him knowing it’d be my words that would slam the bars closed on him for life? He shot a police officer. No judge in the world would be lenient. Even if it wasn’t all his fault. He was just reacting against Espo killing Mercutio.

How could I justify what Roman did? He killed out of anger, out of revenge, out of a sense of justice. How could I let Espinoza’s death go unpunished? How could I ever face his mother again knowing that I had the power to send her son’s murderer away and chose not to? How could I remain a cop?

My father gripped my shoulders. “It was Roman Tyrell, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it?”

I had to turn him in. This was my job. My duty. I opened my mouth to speak the words. The memory of Roman’s broken face as I sent him away flashed in my mind. Somehow, I knew he wouldn’t be angry with me if I turned him in. He would understand. Because that’s who he was. He would be expecting it. The part of him that didn’t see his own worth, embracing it.

It’s okay, Jules, I could almost hear him whisper. You do what you have to.

This wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t. We were all to blame for creating a perfect storm resulting in two deaths. Even me.

They would never see it this way if I told them the truth. That’s not how the law worked. The law pinned the blame on the man who pulled the trigger, not on the unseen forces compelling him to do it.

“Julu?” My father frowned deeply at me.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t send Roman away for life. The thought of it made my heart twist in agony. It was wrong, even though it was the “right” thing to do.

“It was dark.” My tongue grew thick with my lies. “I didn’t see…”

My father let go of me like my skin had become poisonous. His face twisted from disbelief to incredulity to anger. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know who shot Espinoza.” My voice came out strained and weak. I hated lying to him. But it was the lesser of two evils.

“The bullet pulled from Mercutio’s body was fired from Espinoza’s gun. Espinoza’s death was a retaliation killing by Roman Tyrell. Admit it.” Disapproval radiated off my loving father, stabbing me across my torso.

But I wouldn’t break. I couldn’t. “I don’t know. I didn’t see.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“Are you protecting him?”

“He isn’t what you think.”

“He is a Tyrell. They are monsters.”

If he just knew Roman like I did, maybe he would give Roman a chance. “He’s not like the rest of them. Father, if you only?—”

“He killed your partner,” my father roared.

“Espo’s not innocent. He shot Mercutio, who didn’t even have a weapon on him.”

---